Sony Xperia S is the first phone Sony after split with Ericsson. Sony has recently bought out Ericsson's shares in the joint venture for 1.05 billion Euros. With the buyout, we can expect more cutting edge mobile technology from the Japanese company. One device that is carrying the solely-Sony brand name is the XPERIA S. It is unlike any other phone SE (Sony Ericsson) had to offer. Here, you will get to know if the smartphone is for you by getting to know its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

In the past, SE's lineup consisted of sound handsets such as the Arc S and Play. The Arc S is a slim Android handset and the Play is the only PlayStation-certified smartphone in the market. Despite the level of innovation these handset had to offer, they still lacked the processing power other handsets had to offer. These top of the line SE phones packed single-core processors when the competition offered dual-core processors. In the same year these two phones were released into the market, Samsung released the Galaxy S2 and HTC released the Sensation. These two were powered by 1.2 GHz dual-core processors that offered superior performance. Sadly, SE's previous models didn't have what it took to compete when it came to performance. This is no longer the case with Sony's new smartphone.

The new Sony XPERIA S was recently released at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas back in January of this year. It quickly stole the show since it was the first Sony-only branded handset and it packed a 1.5 dual-core processor under the hood. This meant that it no longer lagged behind when it came to performance.


Another advantage it had over other phones the competition had to offer was a superior camera sensor. Most high-end smartphones came with 8 megapixel cameras. These smartphones include the Apple iPhone 4S, the Samsung Galaxy S2, and the HTC Sensation XE. The XPERIA S sports a 12 megapixel camera that can record videos at 1080p (full HD).

Disadvantages

Since this phone is a new release, you might be expecting that it runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) the latest version of Google's mobile operating system. Unfortunately, it still runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The good news is the Japanese company is planning to release the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the smartphone soon.

Recently released in Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona were quad-core handsets such as the HTC One X and the LG Optimus 4X HD. Since smartphones sporting quad-core processors have now been introduced, Sony's new smartphone may have to catch up once again.

Now that you know more about the advantages and disadvantages of the Sony XPERIA S, you get to better decide if the smartphone is right for you.

Key features

• Android Gingerbread with guaranteed upgrade to a version of the Ice Cream Sandwich.
• 12 MP Camera with full HD recording quality.
• screen with Bravia Engine.
• HDMI connections and NFC.
• The body is made ​​of plastic.
• HDMI cable is not included in the package.
• Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3" 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of 720p resolution (720 x 1280 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine; Scratch-resistant glass
• Android OS v2.3.7 Gingerbread, planned Android 4.0 ICS update
• Dual-core 1.5 GHz Scorpion CPU, 1 GB RAM, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 chipset
• 12 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geo-tagging, Multi Angle shot
• 1080p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound
• 1.3 MP front-facing camera, 720p video recording
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• 32GB built-in storage
• microHDMI port, dedicated TV launcher
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Voice dialing
• Adobe Flash 11 support
• Deep Facebook integration
• PlayStation Certified, access to the PS Store
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• The competition will soon have phones with quad-core CPUs
• Display has sub-par viewing angles

Main disadvantages

• No microSD card slot
• microSIM only
• Shutter key isn't particularly comfortable

Final Verdict

There are still some niggles but we think it says a lot that when writing the pros and cons above, we really struggled with the cons section. This handset may not be cheap – and it may feel like a Sony Ericsson without the Ericsson bit printed on the front – but we are really impressed with what Sony has done for its first solo foray.